Editing Workers' Party of Belgium

{{Message box/Stub}}{{Infobox political party|name=Workers' Party of Belgium|native_name=Partij van de Arbeid van België<br>Parti du Travail de Belgique<br>Partei der Arbeit Belgiens|logo=|founded=1979|abbreviation=PTB . PVDA . PAB|president=[[Raoul Hedebouw]]|general_secretary=[[Peter Mertens]]|founder=[[Ludo Martens]]|predecessor=[[All Power To The Workers]]|newspaper=Solidaire / Solidair|student_wing=Comac|youth_wing=RedFox, Pioneers|womens_wing=Zelle|political_orientation=[[Socialism]]<br>[[Reformism]]|international=[[IMCWP]]}}{{Communist parties}}
The '''Workers' Party of Belgium''' ('''PTB'''/'''PVDA''') is a [[Socialism|socialist]] party in [[Kingdom of Belgium|Belgium]] which in recent years has turn to [[reformism]] and abandoned [[communism]].

=== History ===

==== First congress - 1979 ====
The PTB-PVDA is officially born in the "foundation congress" on the 4th of November 1979, with 4000 people attending.<ref>{{Citation|author=PTB-PVDA|year=2018|title=Once upon a time the PTB-PVDA|page=22|pdf=https://assets.ptb.be/2023-06/2018iletaitunefoisleptb-rwpjt3.pdf19|city=Brusels|publisher=Éditions du PTB|trans-title=Il était une fois le PTB|trans-lang=French}}</ref> This congress is the result of 10 years of work to formalize [[All Power To The Workers|AMADA-TPO]], a [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] student-worker's movement born out of the 1968 student movement. [[Ludo Martens]] becomes its first president, and will stay president until the 8th congress in 2008.

Here the PTB-PVDA first describes itself as Marxist-Leninist.<blockquote>The Workers' Party is based on the scientific doctrine of socialism, the fundamental laws of which are indicated by dialectical and historical materialism. This doctrine, of which [[Karl Marx|Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]], [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] and [[Mao Zedong]] are the main teachers, is not a dogma but, like any science, it must develop as society evolves.<ref>{{Citation|author=PTB-PVDA|year=1979|title=Documents of the congress, approved by the committee.|chapter=1. The Workers' Party of Belgium|section=(4)|city=Brussels}}</ref></blockquote>

==== Second congress - 1983 ====

==== Third congress - 1988 ====

==== Fourth congress - 1991 ====

==== Fifth congress - 1995 ====
In January 1995 is held the fifth congress. The position of general secretary is created and attributed to [[Nadine Rosa-Rosso]]. Ludo Martens writes with her help ''The party of revolution'', based on the lessons of the congress.

The book outlines in minute detail how the party should be organized as a "bolshevik-type communist party" for the future, to reach goals such as ensuring ideological commitment within the cadres, enforcing discipline, eradicating revisionism and opportunism etc.<ref>{{Citation|author=Ludo Martens, Nadine Rosa-Rosso|year=1995|title=The party of revolution|city=Brussels|publisher=PTB-PVDA|isbn=9782872621118|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=8CB8E2873827C79DD5181E33799C470F}}</ref>

The was publicly the official organizational manual of the PTB-PVDA until 2015<ref>{{Citation|author=PTB-PVDA|year=2008|title=Statuses of the PTB-PVDA (2008)|quote=The ideological and organizational principles for the cadres' work were set at the Fifth Party Congress in the manual "Party of the Revolution".|pdf=https://www.politicalpartydb.org/wp-content/uploads/Statutes/Belgium/BELGIUM_PTB_2008.pdf|trans-lang=French}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=PTB-PVDA|year=2015|title=Statuses of the PTB-PVDA (2015)|pdf=https://www.politicalpartydb.org/wp-content/uploads/Statutes/Belgium/BELGIUM_PTB_2015.pdf|trans-lang=French}}</ref>

==== Sixth congress - 1997 ====

==== Seventh congress - 2002 ====
The seventh congress, "Communism, the future of humanity" outlines how it "rectified" its practices through the lessons of the fifth congress, and the plan for applying it further in the five following years ("IMPACT 2002-2006").

Another main point is a lowering of requirements for entry some "basis groups", in hopes of becoming a mass party:<ref>{{Citation|author=Nadine Rosa-Rosso|year=2002|title=Communism, the future of humanity|pdf=https://web.archive.org/web/20031025055854/http://www.pvda.be/congres/congresFR.pdf|city=Brussels|publisher=PTB-PVDA|trans-title=Le communisme, l'avenir de l'humanité|trans-lang=French}}</ref>

==== Eighth congress - 2008 ====
Named the "renewal congress", the eighth congress takes place in over a year, starting in 2007.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|author=PTB-PVDA|year=2008|title=8th Congress - A principled party, A flexible party, A workers' party.|chapter=A flexible party|page=92|pdf=https://assets.ptb.be/2023-06/2008ptbcongresdurenouveau-rwpkan.pdf|city=Brussels|publisher=PTB-PVDA|trans-title=8e congrès du PTB|trans-lang=French}}</ref> [[Peter Mertens]] is elected president in place of Ludo Martens. Nadine Rosa-Rosso was purged from the party in 2003, unlike Ludo which will stay in the party until his death in 2011, becoming the party's "Central Africa expert".

The renewal congress is where the party adopts its new style of communication. It is divided in four main parts:

===== Chapter 1: "The future is for socialism" =====
Here, it argues for the necessity of socialism in Europe and in the world.<ref name=":0" /> It ends arguing for its new direction:<blockquote>The evolution of society places us before a double task. The new PTB-PVDA wants, in the coming period, to be both a party of principles and a flexible party. In a world of change fast, we need a strong backbone. Our Marxist analysis and our commitment to socialism make the identity of our party. This is the subject of chapter 2. At the same time, we need flexibility and openness to stick to people's reality, to raise their awareness, to mobilize them read and organize them (this is chapter 3) and transform the party into a workers’ party (chapter 4).<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>

===== Chapter 2: "A principled party" =====
This part is opened with its analysis of the treason of the [[POB]] — which later became the [[Socialist Party (Belgium)|Socialist Party]], the current Belgian [[Social democracy|social-democrats]]:<blockquote>Some comrades say that the main objective for the party is to intervene more openly, more flexibly and more tactically. This is a mistake. The main objective of the party is to be firm on principles and flexible. Both, and at the same time. Anyone who dissociates the need to be flexible, open and tactical will soon bow to the pressure of capital.

This danger is not new. History teaches us that abandoning principles in the name of tactics and flexibility can go very quickly. The Belgian Workers' Party, the forerunner of today's PS, was founded in 1885. The POB quickly abandoned a number of socialist principles - especially after its first electoral victory in 1894. It is worthwhile today to examine this process a little more closely.
Very quickly, there was a great aversion to substantive debate and to socialist theory. [...] The properties of the capitalist system, the objectives of socialism, the long-term interests of the working class... all this was quickly ‘forgotten’ and sacrificed in favour of the real or supposed advantages of the moment.

Very quickly, there was a great aversion to substantive debate and to socialist theory. [...] The properties of the capitalist system, the objectives of socialism, the long-term interests of the working class... all this was quickly ‘forgotten’ and sacrificed in favour of the real or supposed advantages of the moment.

Despite the statutes, power within the party shifted towards the party's parliamentarians to the detriment of the elected leadership, the General Council. The elected members of parliament placed themselves above the party leadership. They began to work for parliamentary life or for themselves, not  in the service of the whole.

The party became a party of parliamentary legality instead of a party of class struggle. The party ended up being afraid of the workers' movement. It encouraged calm.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>It then affirms their ideological basis:<blockquote>The PTB's view of the world is called Marxism.<ref group="lower-alpha">From this congress on, the PTB-PVDA calls itself "Marxist", and refers to Lenin separately. It also stops referring to Stalin at all.</ref> Its foundations were laid by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>Later on, it outlines its strategy, calls itself (and defines) a "contemporary communist party", re-affirms the importance of strict [[democratic centralism]], and its belonging to the "international communist movement".<ref name=":0" />

===== Chapter 3: "A flexible party" =====
Here the party outlines the importance for tactics, its tactical recommandations, which maybe most notably contains:<blockquote>'''We make a distinction between what happens in the dining room and what in the kitchen.
'''
The best chefs don't reveal all their secrets. The situation in the kitchen is often more chaotic than the atmosphere of the dining room. The party needs enough attention and space for all strategic and tactical questions. For the outside world, we need to know what is essential. In the limited time and space that the media gives us, we want to focus on that, even if journalists are often more interested in our internal cooking or the difficult points in our programme.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>

===== Chapter 4: "A workers' party" =====
The party here explains the way it wants to become a mass party of organized workers, but also outlines the new strategy it should adopt in order to attain that goal.

== References ==
<references />

=== Notes ===
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[[Category:Communist parties]]